They have different sentence structures, totally different grammar and a bit different pronunciation for letters and words. They share the same vocabulary, but you may find the same words used to indicate slightly different meanings. In general, colloquial Arabic dialects (such as Egyptian Arabic, gulf Arabic (spoken in gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), Shami Arabic (spoken in Jordan, Palestine, Syria), Maghrabi Arabic(spoken in morocco, Algeria and Tunisia)) all these dialects are spoken only. they don't have standard grammar rules and they are used for daily life communication While standard Arabic is widely understood in all countries, but it's only used in written and formal material, such as books, newspapers, official statements.. etc Which to start with ? This is a matter of opinion. I believe standard Arabic is more useful because it's widely adopted, it has formal documented grammar and because it is the origin from which all dialects originated. By learning standard Arabic, you gain better understanding of the origin of any dialect, and I guess it will become easier to learn any dialect later on. But many people may be only interested in a specific dialect such as Egyptian, because it's much more important for them to be able to speak and interact with others than to understand written material or express themselves in a formal way. Also Egyptian Arabic is widespread and well understood in most Arab countries.

Well, there's a huge difference. MSA is what you read in newspapers and listen to on the news, while Egyptian Arabic is a dialect not a language. It's like you're speaking two different languages. For your information MSA is not used in any Arab country for communication, because each country has its own dialect with which people communicate, meaning; you'll never hear people talking MSA in the street, it's only for writing purposes. Egyptian Arabic is understood by most Arab countries because of the media just like US English :)

it's just like the difference between American and British english

Hi, this is the simplest explanation that I found on the net: Arabic itself is commonly sub-classified as Classical Arabic, Eastern Arabic, Western Arabic, and Maltese. A modernized form of Classical Arabic exists and is referred to as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Classical Arabic, which is the language of the Qur'an, was originally the dialect of Mecca in what is now Saudi Arabia. An adapted form of this, known as Modern Standard Arabic, is used in books, newspapers, on television and radio, and is also the common conversational language between educated Arabs from different countries. Egyptian Arabic is part of the Eastern Arabic subclass, which includes the Arabic dialects spoken in a large region of North Africa (Egypt and Sudan), the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula), and Arabic countries in Asia. Eastern Arabic, in addition to Egyptian Arabic, includes Levantine Arabic, spoken in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Palestine, and Gulf Arabic as well as dialects in adjacent regions.

it is like the different between US english , and UK english both country use english to speaking but they have different pronunciation for letters and words